Water-conservation image published with KNWA/FOX24's coverage of Fort Smith's Phase II restrictions.
Hey Fort Smith — this one actually affects what people can do at home this weekend.
All City of Fort Smith water customers south of Zero Street are now under mandatory Phase II water-conservation measures through the end of Sunday, Sept. 6.
The city says a 24-inch reinforced-concrete water main along Arkansas 45 was struck Wednesday, causing significant water loss.
The main itself has been repaired, but reservoirs serving the southern part of Fort Smith are still low. The temporary restrictions are meant to give those reservoirs time to recover while keeping enough water available for normal household use and essential services.
And there’s an important distinction here.
Fort Smith and several surrounding water systems have already been under a voluntary conservation request because of the prolonged heat and dry weather.
South of Zero Street, though, the rules are no longer voluntary.
Under Phase II, watering lawns or turf with city water is prohibited. If you have an automatic sprinkler or irrigation system, it needs to be turned off while the restrictions are in effect.
Shrubs, plants, trees and gardens can still be hand-watered, but only enough to keep them alive.
That hand-watering has to happen before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m., and Fort Smith's odd/even address schedule applies.
If your address ends in an even number, hand-water only on even-numbered calendar dates.
If your address ends in an odd number, use odd-numbered dates.
Washing vehicles, trailers, boats, airplanes or building exteriors with city water is also prohibited.
Commercial car washes are still allowed. Licensed vehicle dealerships have separate limited rules permitting vehicle washing on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Residents also can't fill swimming pools or outdoor fountains, and outdoor fountains aren't supposed to operate during the restriction period.
Hosing down sidewalks, driveways, patios, parking lots and similar hard surfaces is prohibited too, with limited exceptions where water use is necessary for public health at food-service businesses.
Golf courses may water greens and tee boxes but not fairways or roughs, and school athletic fields can't be watered with city water while the restrictions are active.
The city is also restricting non-emergency fire-hydrant use for construction, fire drills and routine testing.
The mandatory portion applies to Fort Smith customers south of Zero Street, but the larger water-conservation request extends throughout much of the River Valley.
Fort Smith supplies water directly or indirectly to communities and rural systems including Van Buren, Barling, Lavaca, Mountainburg, Central City, Chester, Arkoma, Cedarville Water Users, Highway 71 Water Users, Rural Water District 7 and Franklin-Sebastian Water Users.
Those customers are still being asked to voluntarily conserve.
That broader request asks even-numbered addresses to do outdoor watering on even dates and odd-numbered addresses on odd dates while avoiding outdoor watering during the hottest portion of the day.
And with triple-digit heat continuing across the area, the timing isn't great.
Water demand goes up quickly when people are running sprinklers, filling pools and trying to keep lawns alive through weeks of heat.
Add a major water-main loss on top of that and suddenly reservoir recovery becomes something the entire system has to pay attention to.
The good news is the damaged main has already been repaired.
This isn't a situation where crews are still trying to stop water pouring out of a broken pipe.
Now it's about letting the system refill and stabilize.
For people south of Zero, the easiest way to remember the weekend is simple:
No sprinklers. No lawn watering. No driveway car wash. No filling pools. Hand-water plants only when allowed.
If everyone backs off unnecessary water use for a few days, those reservoirs should have a much easier time recovering.
Community takeaway: Mandatory Phase II water-conservation measures are in effect for all Fort Smith water customers south of Zero Street through the end of Sunday, Sept. 6. A 24-inch water main along Arkansas 45 was struck Wednesday and caused significant water loss. The line has been repaired, but reservoir levels remain low. Lawn watering, automated irrigation, vehicle washing at home, filling pools and several other nonessential uses are temporarily prohibited. Customers elsewhere in Fort Smith and surrounding systems supplied by the city are still being asked to voluntarily conserve water.
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Sources: City of Fort Smith — current Phase II water-conservation notice · Southwest Times Record — mandatory water restrictions after water-main damage · KNWA/FOX24 — Phase II rules
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